Learning to Love and Tolerate
by ShadowPhoenix2115
Summary: An Inter-dimensional traveler has accidentally landed in Equestria. A land where violence is rare, and peace and love prevail. Can he cope with this new world after spending most of his life fighting?
1. Chapter 1

Strange new World

Alex awoke to find himself tied to a wall. _Alright step one: Where am I? _He looked around. He was in a small shack, that had clumps of hay all over the ground, and smelled of apples. _Great, looks like I was found by some paranoid redneck. Probably thinks I'm some alien here to steal all the earth's woman or something. Really starting to hate blacking out upon arrival to every dimension. _He looked at the rope tied around his wrist. The rope was strong, but the knot was pretty simple. _Just tug at this loop here and... _The rope fell from his wrist. _There easy enough now to get out of- _"Ow!" In his rush to get up Alex bumped his head on a crossbeam. _This shack was not made for people that are six feet in height. This could mean a smaller species, but I'm going to go ahead, work with the assumption that these people are human until proven otherwise. Besides shacks tend to be shorter then they should be anyway. _He checked himself. _Still have all my clothes, but my gear's gone. The safeties should be in place, so I can probably leave them here. At least until I get a good indicator of where, and when I am. _

He leaned against the door, and slowly cracked it open. The hinges only creaked a little as he peeked outside. The sun was down, and the air was cool. Indicating an early spring morning. _Cost looks clear better get a move on. _He sprinted towards a road on the other side of the field the shack was in. Once he was at the road he stopped, then looked up at the night sky. _Orion, Big dipper, Little dipper, Polaris. Yep Stars are in the right place. Looks like I'm somewhere in the UK around the late 20th to early 21st century. _Alex checked the road. _Lot's of horse and buggy activity. Looks like most of them are heading west. I can see chimney smoke in the distance- wait is it getting brighter? _Alex looked to the east. The horizon was in fact getting brighter. _Looks like it's going to be dawn soon, if whoever tied me up is still around they'll be getting up soon. Better move. _He started jogging toward the chimney smoke.

About a half-hour later Alex arrived at a town, and stated walking towards what he hoped would be town square. By this time the sun had started peaking over the horizon. He started taking note of the buildings. This is_ odd mix of American, British, and Ancient Greek styles. Looks like pre-to-mid-industrial era, which is odd considering the star arrangement. Maybe they're slightly off. Also everything's kind of small. Based on the height of the door-frames I'd say the average person probably stands about four feet tall. _Just then he noticed something about the road. _Okay I'm seeing tons of horse tracks, and nothing else, which is odd enough by itself, even if you took away the fact that this road is WAY to clean especially for the amount of horses that would be needed for this many tracks. This is getting weird, I should get out of the open just to be- _"Hey!" A young female voice yelled from behind. Alex whirled around to see... _A blue Pegasus, with a rainbow mane, standing on a cloud._ "Who let you out of the shack!?" She yelled. _Well I've seen everything _Alex concluded, before sprinting of in the opposite direction. Spotting a nearby stall he stepped onto it and leaped on to a nearby roof, and started running along the rooftops. There was a rush of air, and the Pegasus was suddenly right in front of Alex. _Okay, escaping a flying horse via rooftop: not my best plan. _He leaped to the side, and off the roof into a back ally. He kept started sprinting only to have her cut him off again. Using a nearby barrel as leverage He jumped, and performed an aerial twist over her, then kept running. Spotting a nearby bucket he scooped it up and threw it onto his pursuer's head, just before she could catch up.

He finally made it out of the ally, ending up right in the middle of the town square. Alex looked around as the towns residents started exiting their homes, and going about their day, The residents consisting of Ponies. He looked back where he came to see the blue pegasus at the ally exit watching for his next move. _I've got nowhere to go, and if this town is any indication, this world is populated by talking ponies, making it impossible to blend in__. I should turn myself in, and establish that I come in peace, otherwise I wont get anywhere as far as information is concerned. _He raised his hands. The pegasus's eyes widened, and then she went into a pouncing stance. "Wait!" Alex said. Her eyes widened again. "You caught me. Okay? I'm done running." She flew up close to him. "You... can talk?" she asked. "Yes, and I'll answer any questions you have..." he looked around at all the ponies who where gawking at the strange creature before them. "...somewhere else." She thought for a second, then nodded and said: "Follow me."

**Authors Comments**

**Okay first of all I realize I should be working on precognition, but this has been floating in my head for a while so I had to get it out there.**

**Secondly this may seem like your typical "Human get's mysteriously whisked away to (Insert fandom name here)" but this is going to focus on establishing my OC as he is going to be involved in more things I do in the future if this goes well. **

**Finally, this is my first MLP fanfic so... thoughts critiques? **


	2. Cake and Trust

Cake and Trust

Twilight Sparkle awoke to hear the sounds of pages being turned in quick succession. She looked to Spike's bed and confirmed that he was still asleep, as usual. She trotted down to the library proper to see the creature she had met yesterday, and had Apple Jack tie up in an old shack the day before. "Hi... Alex." She said with slight confusion. He was surrounded by stacks of books, and was currently reading one. Although she hesitated to call it reading, as all he appeared to be doing was flipping a page glancing at the left, then right pages, then turning to the next set. "Ms. Sparkle." he replied without breaking rhythm "How are you doing that?" She asked. "My brain processes information at a higher rate than most, plus I have an Eidetic memory." He closed the book. "Anyway, you have good timing, that was the last book." "In... the section?" Twilight asked hesitantly. "Library." Alex corrected. Twilight's eyes widened. Alex shrugged. "What do you think I've been doing for the last twelve hours?" "Sleeping?" She replied incredulously Alex blinked, then smacked his temple. "Right, of course, you would think that."

"Are you trying to tell me you don't sleep?"

"No I totally sleep. Just not as often as most people."

There was a slight pause. "Your species is quite odd." Twilight commented. Alex snickered "Trust me I'm not exactly the prime example of a typical human." She tilted her head slightly "Really? How so?" He thought for a second. "...Let's just say there are a few... anomalies in my body that wouldn't be found in a typical human specimen." "Really like what?" She asked. Alex chuckled. "Not yet, I need to know you way better before I start sharing the details of my anatomy." She sighed in disappointment. "Okay, fair enough, I'm still wrapping my mind around the whole 'Parallel universe' thing you told me about yesterday. So, I should probably limit the amount of new information I take in anyway." He pointed at her in affirmation. "Exactly, though I have to admit, you took the concept surprisingly well. For most people I usually end up explaining it again a week later, but I can tell you understand the core concept at least." She couldn't help but smile at this. "Well, to be fair it isn't _too _different from Star Swirl the Bearded's theory on alternate time-lines. Just on a broader scale."

Alex looked away thoughtfully. "Star Swirl the Bearded: Historical figure. Wizard. Specialized in time related magic. Kind of antisocial based on his work." Twilight's eyes widened. "How did you-" "I told you I just finished reading the inventory of your library, like two minutes ago. And don't forget the eidetic memory." he got up. "Which reminds me I should put these back." "Wait!" She said worriedly. "You have to put them on order-" He cut her off as he continued to put the books away. "Alphabetical order, first by title, then by author. Then separate by genre, then by publishing date." He looked at her with a smirk. "Your slightly obsessed aren't you." "I'm not-" "Think, what's the exact definition of obsessed?" She thought for a second. "Okay maybe I'm a _little _obsessed, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing!" "I never said it was." he replied. "In fact the pursuit of knowledge, is one of the few obsessions that should be encouraged. Even if you are a bit anal about organizing."

He placed the final book on the shelf. "So hey, I was planning on exploring your town and see if I can't gather any further data then what your books could provide, and I figured 'hey so long as I'm living in this girl's house and eating her food, I might as well do some shopping.' Unfortunately I don't have any of you're currency, do you people use currency?" Twilight nodded. "Right, so if you're short on anything I can get it for you, but you are gonna have to pay for it. Hopefully I can get a income before this becomes a problem, but for now... yeah." She couldn't help but smile. This guy was clearly trying to make the best out of a unusual situation.

He had stated yesterday, that he never intended to come to Equestria, but the device he used to travel between dimensions had malfunctioned, and brought him here by accident. With far less equipment then he would have wanted for a world in their current time-frame. So he was basically stuck here until he can make another dimensional device, to take him back. Noting the fact that finding and/or making the necessary materials for a device that can pierce time and space in this era was going to take a _very _long time.

She mentally thought over the shopping list she had been preparing for her weekly shopping day. She then remembered something Pinkie had told her a few days ago. "Actually now that you mention it; there _is_ something you can do for me." "What's that?" he asked. "Well one of my friends, Pinkie Pie..." Alex snickered for a second "Sorry, sorry, continue." "...wanted to celebrate my first week in Ponyville... I manged to convince her to tone it down so that it would just be me, and my friends instead of the entire town, but she insisted that she make me a, quote 'super-ultra-mega-awesome-super-cake' unquote." He smirked "She sounds like an entertaining person." "That's _one _word for her. Anyway she said it would be done today, so if you could drop by Sugarcube Corner, that'd be great." "I see, where is this 'Sugarcube Corner'?" Twilight grew a knowing smile "You'll know it when you see it."

He headed toward the door. "Alright then I should be back in a couple hours if all goes well." Twilight held up her hoof "Wait!" Alex paused "What?" "Um, just remember that most ponies here still haven't seen you. So try not to do anything too, unusual." He chuckled. "Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've been dropped into a new world without any preparation. I'm fully capable of blending in." He paused for a second and snickered. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to stare at random objects and people for long periods of time, in a town full of ponies who have never seen a human before." He left before Twilight had a chance to respond.

_Well this is certainly going to be an interesting day. _Twilight thought. _Although I can't think of a single normal day I've had since I got here. _This was a pretty accurate assumption. From the moment she set hoof in Ponyville it had been a constant barrage of events that made her constantly reevaluate her definition of normal. First she met the six ponies who would later become her friends in an... oddly sequential manner when she thought about it. Then by that night Nightmare Moon, arrived proving a nearly forgotten myth true, after which Twilight, and her soon-to-be friends went on a adventure, through the Everfree Forest during which she: re-discovered the elements of harmony, used them to defeat Nightmare Moon, reunite Princess Celestia with her sister, and then become a permanent resident of Ponyville.

Three days later there's an explosion in the sky, and Fluttershy says she found an unknown creature covered with weapons unconscious by the lake. They decide to remove his weapons, and then leave him tied up in one of Apple Jack's shacks overnight, to give Twilight time to get all the lab equipment the had available together, so she can make evaluations. Of course early the next morning during Apple Jack's _one _bathroom break it escapes only to be found by Rainbow Dash. After a brief chase it cooperates, and Rainbow takes him to the library. The entire day pretty much consisted of him introducing himself as Alex Anderson: human traveler from an alternate universe who showed up here by accident, having him explain exactly what an alternate universe _is_, him trying to convince her to give him his equipment back, which she adamantly refused, and finally him meeting Spike whom he labeled "The Chihuahua of dragons."

Twilight heard a yawn from her bedroom. _Speaking of which. _Spike slowly made his way down to the main library. "Morning Twilight" he greeted groggily. "Hey Spike, glad to see you're up." He looked around. "Where's whatshisname?" she chuckled "_Alex, _had some things he needed to do so he went out for a while." He arched an eyebrow "You let him leave?" "He's not our prisoner Spike!" She reprimanded "So long as he stays out of trouble, he's allowed to do what he needs to in order to adjust to our world." "So wait, you buy all that 'alternate universe' stuff he was talking about?" he asked a little surprised. "If he wanted to lie to us, I'm pretty sure he could come up with a story that's far less crazy sounding then what he told us."

"So you believe him _because _of how crazy it all sounds?"

"Right, why would someone claim their from an alternate universe, when it would be so much easier to say they're from, a distant island that no ones ever heard of?"

"I guess that makes a little sense, but- _hurk! _Incoming!" Spike spewed out green fire which transformed into a small scroll. "Ah, that must be Celestia's reply to my letter from yesterday." Being the dutiful student she was, Twilight sent a detailed account of Alex's arrival to the Princess while he was busy finding something to eat in her fridge. (Not an easy task for an omnivore in a herbivore's home) "What does it say?" Spike asked. Twilight read aloud.

_"Dear Twilight_

_ I wanted to thank you for bringing this to my attention. Of course I trust you're judgment;_

_ however, I strongly suggest that you err on the side of caution until you know more about_

_ this Alex. The decision is entirely up to you. I will say that the nature of the weapons he _

_ bears concerns me, and thus recommend that at the very least, you restrict his access to _

_ them until you know he can be trusted._

_ You're concerned teacher,_

_ Princess Celestia."_

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Spike commented "Well that was my plan to begin with. Just because I'm ready to believe his story, doesn't mean I won't still keep, an eye on him, but I'm not going to treat him like a criminal either." "Fair enough." Spike conceded. He was ready for this conversation to be over. "Well I'm going to fix up some hay fries, you want any?" Twilight gave him an incredulous look. "Hay fries... for breakfast?" Spike looked back at her with a half-lidded expression. "What's today Twilight.?" She thought for a second. In all that had happened the last couple days she had honestly forgotten. "Wait Monday's _today_?" Spike pointed in confirmation "Exactly," Monday was supposed to be he weekly shopping day. "and since Alex ate the last of the apples, all we have left is some hay, and cider." "Hay fries it is then." She said. "While you're doing that I'm going to see if I can't find anything on alternate dimensions, or humans." "I thought you already went through the library, and found nothing." Spike said confused. "Well yeah, but I was distracted at the time. Maybe I missed something." Spike shrugged and moved on to the kitchen.

The next few hours where filled with Twilight carefully sifting through every book on biology, zoology, ancient myths, scientific and magical theory, everything that might contain something involving trans-dimensional travel, or advanced bipedal primate-like creatures with opposable thumbs. In the end it proved no more fruitful than her first search. All She ended up with where a few vague theories by Starswirl on alternate time-lines, but nothing nearly as extensive as completely different universes, each with different rules, and people to the point where you would never be able to tell which ones where connected. _This seems to confirm his story, there's no way that there wouldn't be __some__thing about humans unless they never existed here in the first place. Unless of course I'm simply missing the one book that tells me everything about humans, but I find that unlikely. Though it probably wouldn't hurt to check the Canterlot library when I get- _

Her train of thought was cut off by a series off hurried knocks at the door. _Oh, that must be Alex. _She thought as she casually headed for the door. She was urged to move quicker when the hurried knocks turned into a constant pounding. She opened the door with magic, and was nearly run over by Alex rushing in holding something in his arms. Twilight quickly closed the door again, and hurried over to Alex's side as he placed his cargo on the center table. She gasped to see Pinkie Pie's unconscious body. The words "Oh crap," where uttered a total of 27 times by Alex during this period. "What happened!?" She asked. "Uhhhh, okay" Alex answered in a panicked voice. "So, I was wrapping up my little exploration trip I went to Sugar Cube Corner like you asked. No ones at the front desk. I ring the bell. I'm look around. My back's turned to the desk. Next thing I know I feel someone wrapping their... hooves apparently around my neck. I react. Flip her over my back. Next thing I know there's a unconscious pink pony lying on the ground in front of me who was probably just glomping me to say hello. So I brought her here."

"Why, didn't you just bring her to the hospital?"

"Yeah. Hi doc! I'm an alien from an alternate universe, and I am carrying one of your citizens who is unconscious. What's that? You want me to go with these nice men with shiny helmets, and pointy spears? Okay!" Alex finished this presentation with an over dramatic thumbs up and grin. "Alright alright, I get it!" Twilight exclaimed.

"But what do you expect _me _to do? I can't perform a healing spell without knowing more about the injury, and most of my lab equipment is still in Canterlot. I don't have anything beyond a first-aid kit"

"You don't. _I _do."

"Look, we've been over this I'm not going to risk-"

"When I flipped her over, I did it with the force required for someone roughly my size. She's a lot smaller, which means she hit the ground _really _hard. She more than likely has a concussion, she might even be bleeding in the brain. We wont know until I get to my medical equipment."

Twilight wasn't sure what to do. _I still don't know him that well. But Pinkie's really hurt she might even die if he's right about her brain bleeding! He might be lying, he might've attacked her, and is using her to get his weapons._"Look I just want to make sure she's okay. I know you don't know me that well, but I need you to trust me. _Please _let me help her. I promise to give it all back the moment I know she's okay." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine. Spiiiike!" Spike peeked over the bed alcove. He'd been watching the whole time. Not sure what to do. "Are you sure Twilight?" "She's sure." Alex said hurriedly. Spike looked back at her. She nodded. He retreated out of view. "And wipe it down while you're at it. I don't want bird crap gunking up everything." Twilight looked back at Alex in surprise. He smirked. "You didn't really think I spent the _entire _night reading did you?"

"Incoming!" Spike called out as Alex's utility harness was thrown over the edge. Twilight decided to discuss this later caught it with magic and levitated it in front of Alex. "Take only what you need." Alex nodded and pulled out a cylindrical object from one of the fifty pouches on the belt. He called up to Spike "Where are my sunglasses!?" A pair of Bobster Chargers came flying over. Twilight caught them and passed them over while asking. "Are these really necessary?" He flipped the frame open with a flick of his wrist, slid them on in a stylish manner and said "Yes." She rolled her eyes _Watch out we've got a bad-flank over here. _

He looked ahead blankly for a few seconds. Then at Pinkie. He arched his eyebrow, then looked at Twilight, then looked at the door while grabbing the left hinge on his glasses. "Huh." he said with the sound of slight bewilderment."What?" Twilight asked. "Your bone structures are denser then I thought." He glanced at Pinkie then back to Twilight. "She's fine." Twilight shook her head "Wait what?" "She's fine." he repeated "I mean she's going to have a headache when she wakes up, but other than that..." he shrugged "So all that was for nothing?" She asked "Yeah pretty much." "Well then you know what means." She said as she waved the harness in front of him. "Yeah, yeah." He placed the cylindrical device back in it's pouch. "Can I keep my glasses though? I kind of need them if I'm going to find a way out of this dimension" She pondered this for a second. "Fine. But _just _the glasses." he nodded as she moved the harness back to Spike.

**Alright chapter 2 is finally out critiques are welcome. Is this chapter too long? was the dialogue confusing? What do you think Alex so far?**

**See ya next time**


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